this is from katrina. this is from katrina which was a major event. you see those bumps there which were september and october and then they come back the next month. then look, because it's all damage dependent, the employment level in orleans parish never came back. people don't move back and that's lasting effect from that. we don't expect that in this case. >> we want to get down to lower manhattan which is bracing for that possible major flooding and evacuations were already ordered yesterday afternoon. scott cohn has the latest. >> reporter: andrew, i can tell you things are definitely getting worse. it is high tide at the battery so that's some of what's going on here. take a look. earlier this morning if you remember, i was on a dry area here overlooking new york harbor. the water is now up to my ankles and if i go back it will be up even higher. now, if you take this and you consider high tide this evening about 12 hours from now, which is about when the storm is going to be coming through and transitioning to that extra tropical storm they'r